Proto-North Caucasian: *ʔVms_wĕlʔē ( ~ -ɫʔ-)
Meaning: wild turkey
Notes: Reconstructed for the PEC level. One of the rare cases of an original trisyllabic root structure (which is clearly seen in PA and PL). In Lak. and Darg., as well as in some Lezghian languages, the first weak syllable with a laryngeal was lost, which makes the precise reconstruction of the first vowel impossible. The PA form *nus:inHV (or *ʔuns:inHV) is probably a result of assimilation < *ʔuns:ilHV (~ -rH-). Lak has, besides isu 'owl', also (Khosr.) s:uli 'wild turkey'; because of the irregular reflex s:-, however, it must be considered as a loan (from Darg. or from some Lezg. language).
In spite of phonetic difficulties (caused by the root's trisyllabic character), the overall reconstruction seems quite reliable.
